Business continuity planning for real-world disruptions
Floods, fires, building closures, cable cuts and system outages happen to ordinary businesses. We help you work out which systems matter most, how long you can manage without each one, and what you will actually do on the day.
Business continuity planning for small and medium businesses
Many New Zealand businesses have had a taste of disruption: a weather event that closed roads, a building shut after an earthquake, a lockdown that sent everyone home overnight, or a fibre cut that took down a whole street. The businesses that coped best were rarely the ones with the biggest budgets. They were the ones that had already thought through where people would work, how they would reach their files and how customers would know what was going on.
A continuity plan does not need to be a binder nobody reads. We start with a short workshop: what does your business do each day, which systems does each part depend on, and how long could you go without each before it hurts. The answers usually reveal surprises, such as a single person who knows the payroll process, an internet connection everything depends on, or a phone system that cannot divert calls if the office is closed.
From there we write a plan for a handful of realistic scenarios: losing the office, losing the internet, losing a key system like your practice software or email, and losing key people for a time. Each scenario has clear steps, contacts and the technology to support them, whether that is laptops that work from anywhere, a mobile backup connection, call diversion or a cloud copy of a critical server. Then we test it, because a plan that has never been tried tends to fail in small, avoidable ways.
What's included
Impact workshop
A short session to list what the business does, which systems support each part and how long each can be unavailable before it causes real harm.
Dependency map
A simple picture of how your people, systems, suppliers and internet links depend on each other, including single points of failure.
Scenario plans
Step-by-step responses for losing the office, the internet, a key system or key people, written in plain language with named contacts.
Work-from-anywhere readiness
Laptops, Microsoft 365, phones and secure access set up so staff can carry on from home or a temporary site.
Connectivity backup
Mobile or satellite backup internet and a plan for switching to it, so a cable cut does not stop trading.
Recovery priorities
An agreed order for bringing systems back, matched to how quickly your backups and hosting can deliver them.
Contact and communication plan
How you reach staff, customers and suppliers if email or the office phones are down, with offline copies of key contacts.
Annual test
A walk-through or live test each year, with gaps found and fixed, and the plan updated as the business changes.
Who is business continuity planning for?
A continuity plan is worth putting together if:
- Your business would stop if the office was closed for a week
- Everything depends on one internet connection or one server
- A client, funder or regulator has asked to see your continuity arrangements
- Only one person knows how to run payroll, invoicing or a key system
- You were caught out by a past outage, storm or building closure
Not sure where to start?
Our free IT health check looks at your devices, accounts, backups, security and network. You get a short written report with what is working, what is at risk and a price to fix it. No obligation.
Book the health checkBusiness continuity planning questions
How is this different from backup and disaster recovery?
Backup and disaster recovery focus on getting IT systems and data back. Business continuity is wider: how the whole business keeps serving customers during disruption, including people, premises, suppliers and communication as well as IT.
Does a small business really need a plan?
Smaller businesses often have less slack to absorb disruption, so a short plan can matter even more. It does not need to be long; a few pages covering likely scenarios is far better than nothing.
How long does it take to write a plan?
For a typical small office, the workshop takes a couple of hours and a first draft follows within a week or two. Any technology changes the plan calls for are scoped and scheduled separately.
What does continuity planning cost?
The workshop and plan are quoted in writing first based on the size of your business and how many sites you have. Technology changes the plan recommends are quoted separately so you can prioritise.
How do you test a plan?
Usually as a tabletop exercise, where we walk through a scenario together and check each step, followed by small live tests such as switching to backup internet or having staff work from home for a day.
Can you include our phones?
Yes. Being able to divert calls or answer from mobiles and laptops is often the most important part of staying reachable. We check what your phone system can do and plan around it.
Who keeps the plan up to date?
We review it with you each year and after major changes, such as an office move or new core software. Clients on a support plan have this review built into their regular check-ins.
Other ways we help
Managed IT
One monthly price per person for support, security, updates and backups. Your outsourced IT team.
Managed IT
IT support
Remote and onsite help when you need it, billed by the hour. No plan, no contract.
IT support
Cyber security
Practical protection against scams, ransomware and account takeover, set up and kept current.
Cyber security